By Ian Bremner

Somehow Marissa Nadler is able to straddle the line of spooky and soothing simultaneously. Her voice is warm and inviting. It draws your ear in wanting to hear every word. Her songs can be dark at times, but mainly because you have time to analyze each line and grapple with its meaning.

As uncomfortable as it can be to look inside the window to something that is meant to be private, Marissa Nadler seems to welcome it with her collection of new songs making up For My Crimes. When she exclaims that she can’t listen to Gene Clark anymore, you want to question why, but it doesn’t necessarily matter. She comes to the very edge of explaining herself, but doesn’t spell it out, because she doesn’t have to. Clearly there is some sincere pain or nostalgia going on in regards to Gene Clark.

In another song, she plainly asks “are you really gonna move to the south?” The question seems specific, but we’ve all had thoughts of similar sentiment. Pinpointing specific moments of thought with great vividness and capturing a very universal feeling is what Marissa Nadler has perfected over the years, and especially so with For My Crimes.

Even down to the album cover, a personal painting of Nadler’s, her work is intensely personal. She will let you in at your own discretion, as long as you are respectful and don’t ask too many questions along the way.

Listen to Marissa Nadler’s For My Crimes out on Sacred Bones Records

Listen to two tracks from For My Crimes below